“Your whole life has been useless, Yulian, but I’ve been willing to give you chances. Seems I spoiled you for too long, but I can’t have you being a deranged, sick motherfucker who’s less than a man. I told you, didn’t I? No son of mine will be a cocksucker. Since breaking yourlegs didn’t fix you, I’ll break your whole fucking body this time.”
He slams his boot down again, a crack snapping through the air. Pain floods my chest, nausea surges up, and a raw, piercing roar tears from me.
The room spins, my vision fractures, and in the haze, I see my father’s outline. He’ll kill me, whether he means to or not.
And all I can think of is Alina.
And the last time I saw Vaughn.
If I’d known this would happen, I wouldn’t have thrown a fit and demanded he must go all in. I don’t like that the last memory he has of me is anger and ultimatums.
If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve kissed him one last time.
But then again, Vaughn and I always came from different worlds. They might have collided a few times, but all that’s come out of it is pain.
Four years ago
So yes,I totally shouldn’t be here.
In New York City, hundreds of miles away from home and carrying a fake ID that Cy begrudgingly gave me.
I touch my abs, wincing as pain explodes where my injury is. It’s been a week since I woke up in the hospital to my mom looking like a skeleton and me not being in the cave.
And that’s fine, truly.
Or was, for a while, until that urge to see Vaughn one more time returned.
Just once.
For like ten minutes.
I know it’s one of those reckless choices Dad will punish me for, Mom will ache over, and Alina will lose sleep about—but Icouldn’tstay away.
Not after the cave.
I stole a kiss from him, and I think he might have stolen my heart in return.
Dramatic, I know. I blame the teenage hormones. This is probably another crush, like all the crushes I’ve had.
But who am I kidding? It’s not.
Vaughn is obviously not a girl, and this is new territory for me, but that doesn’t stop me from jumping out of my skin with excitement at the prospect of seeing him again.
And I don’t know why I just can’t forget the feeling of his lips against mine, or the way he frowns, or how his muscles looked when he worked out, or how they felt around me when he hugged me from behind.
All of it is etched deep in my soul.
Everything has been playing in my head nonstop over the past week, invading my dreams and my waking moments.
What did I do? Ran away from home, of course.
I mean, not really, as I plan to go back, but I didn’t tell anyone about my trip. Dad would beat the shit out of me if he knew I went to New York after he announced war with Vaughn’s dad, and Mom and Alina would be so worried. They’ve been fawning over me, but Mom is too frail and kind of needs someone to look after her instead.
So I sneaked out of the house, grabbed a taxi, and took a commercial flight. Maybe it’s due to flying, but I don’t feel so good, despite the multiple painkillers I pumped myself full of.
Nausea rises to my throat, and I stop to catch my breath as pain racks my body.
It’s okay. I’ll be fine. Dad always says if I stay strong enough through pain, it’ll eventually go away.
